The present invention relates to an ink jet device comprising an ink reservoir and a filter element made of a sheet-like material having a curved shape and sealingly disposed in a port of the ink reservoir.
In an ink jet device, such as an ink jet printer, an ink reservoir is incorporated in the printhead or in a separate cartridge and serves to accommodate a certain amount of liquid ink which is to be supplied to a nozzle system of the printhead. In order to prevent the nozzle system from becoming clogged with particulate matter, a filter element is disposed either in an inlet port or an outlet port of the ink reservoir so that the ink is filtered before it is supplied to the nozzle system. The port should be sealed by the filter element so that the ink does not leak around the filter element.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,136 discloses an ink jet device of the type indicated above wherein the filter element is a stainless steel wire mesh which has a spherically curved shape. U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,479 and EP-A-0 603 902 disclose similar ink jet devices in which the filter element is bent into a cylindrical shape to form a slitted tubular member.
In these known devices the filter element is secured in the port of the ink reservoir by means of an adhesive, by welding or by injection molding techniques. For example, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,136, the edge of the dome-shaped filter element is imbedded in an elastomeric material by injection molding, so that a self-sealing cap is formed which is placed over the port of the ink reservoir.